Welcome to The Cruel World (1994)

It was Harper’s devotion to vintage acoustic guitars that imbued 1994’s Welcome To The Cruel World with its sonic warmth.

The album is very much in the Tracy Chapman mold and fans at the time saw him as a transcendent folk singer. His style of playing is best described as an unusual blend of calypso and Mississippi Delta blues. Political conviction may not have been hip in the nineties, but Harper excelled at it.

Two such numbers, Like A King and Take That Attitude To Your Grave burn with conviction. Forever, a tender ballad, also demonstrates his emotional range.